Country Pleasures

One of the great country pleasures is standing beside a lake, pond or stream with your fishing line in the water.  What a wonderful way to relax and enjoy the day.  We grew up with a Dad who is a fisherman.  Many summer evenings found us, as a family, beside the Wallowa or Minam Rivers.  Us kids would splash and play around (as long as we weren't too close to Dad and his fishing pole.  Darn kids scare the fish away!), and Mom would usually have a book or magazine to read.    We also had a pond right at our house that was full of catfish so spent many hours laughing and splashing around with the neighbor kids as we all caught catfish for dinner.  Such fun times, so I get a lot of pleasure out of spending some fishing time with our little grandson, Noah. 

Yesterday was Free Fishing day at many lakes and streams in Oregon, so I gave Brittany a call and asked if they would want to come over so Noah could go fishing.  Coffinbury Lake in Fort Stevens State Park was not only participating in Free Fishing Day, but also had a few organized fun events for the kids including a fishing derby with prizes.  As you can see, this particular dock was a bit crowded, but fun for Noah to throw his line in.  

Waiting patiently for the fish to bite.  Noah didn't actually catch a fish, but it was very exciting when his bobber jumped and dived with a bite.  Reeling his line in, Noah found that that darn fish had come in for a snack, stealing his worm.  That was pretty funny stuff!

Fishing works up a powerful appetite and picnics are a must for any fishing adventure, so we brought along fried chicken, potato chips and cookies. 

Yummy!

Little Mazzy enjoyed her first fishing outing as well as anyone.  She was one cute little number in her summer shades.

The afternoon ended with a couple of splashes as Noah dropped his pole in the lake.  Him and his Papa both reached for it with Papa trying to keep Noah out of the water and the both of them tipping in.  Ooops!  (Shhh...don't tell Riff I told you.  He was pretty irritated at himself that he failed to keep his little man from falling in the lake.)  No harm came of their wet adventure except for some wet, cold clothes.  Noah, at 3-1/2, already has his first fishing story to tell!  His Great-Grandpa is proud!

~May you all be blessed with some country pleasures~